European Central Bank (ECB) Executive Board Member Benoit Coeure has asked financial regulators to create a framework for crypto projects ahead of Facebook’s launch of its own digital currency, Libra.
“It’s out of the question to allow them to develop in a regulatory void for their financial service activities, because it’s just too dangerous,” Coeure said, according to Bloomberg. “We have to move more quickly than we’ve been able to do up until now.”
He added that the boost in new cryptos is finding deficiencies in existing regulation, as well as showcasing the failure of the banking system to adopt new technology.
“All these projects are a rather useful wake-up call for regulators and public authorities, as they encourage us to raise a number of questions and might make us improve the way we do things,” Coeure said.
In other news, Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro has ordered the Bank of Venezuela to allow customers to access the nation’s crypto, the Petro.
“I give the express order for transaction counters for the Petro to be opened in all Bank of Venezuela agencies,” Maduro said in a Tweet, according to CoinDesk.
He has also ordered that payments for passports should be made in Petros, which could be a way to slow down citizens from leaving the troubled country.
Bitcoin has dipped below $11,400, causing most of the top 20 cryptos to trade sideways. Bitcoin is currently down by 0.10 percent on Sunday (July 7), trading around $11,361 at press time, according to Coin360. The one crypto showing the most gains at the moment is monero, which is up 5.26 percent to trade at just over $100 at press time. Chainlink and NEO are down 2.94 percent and 2.18 percent, respectively.
And Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Masayoshi Amamiya said that the country has no plans to issue digital currencies because of uncertainty over how it will impact Japan’s banking system.
“If central bank digital currencies replace private deposits, that could erode commercial banks’ credit channels and have a negative impact on the economy,” Amamiya said, according to Reuters.